medic

MIT video tech could be a remote pulsometer -- or a lie detector

In the Fox TV show "Lie to Me," Dr. Cal Lightman was able to tell whether someone was lying by observing what he called "micro expressions" on their faces. The twitch of an eye, the quickening of a pulse, the beads of sweat on a brow -- he looked for clues too subtle for most of us to catch.

Now, researchers out of MIT are developing a video technology they call Eulerian Video Magnification that could do that and more -- by amplifying the motion in a standard video sequence to detect information not visible to … Read more

Always On Future Tech: Smoking goes high-tech (and smokeless!)

Future tech takes all kinds of forms, and some of those forms are the kind that let you smoke without the guilt or the cancer!

I recently visited Thermo Essence Technologies, which is a Silicon Valley company that makes high-tech "vaporizers" for inhaling nicotine, medical marijuana, or other herbs. They're kind of like electronic cigarettes, but much more premium in terms of construction (and cost). They come in multiple varieties, and they both look cool and keep you from getting cancer, no matter what you're smoking.

The vaporizers use a (rechargeable) battery-powered kiln to conduct super-heated … Read more

iPad software aims to make patient intake enjoyable (video)

Bye-bye boring clipboard. Silicon Valley-based Tonic Health has developed software for iPads that makes collecting medical data in the waiting room more patient-friendly and engaging through the use of compelling graphics and gamification.

SmartPlanet's Sumi Das sits down with Tonic Health CEO Sterling Lanier for a demo. Lanier explains that the software not only makes the data-collection process more fun, it improves patient participation and even relieves pre-appointment anxiety.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "iPad software makes patient intake fun."

What impact will Facebook have on organ donations?

Since launching in February 2004, Facebook has proved highly effective at creating opportunities for the average Web user to create campaigns that reach a mass audience. Most recently such opportunities have extended to organ donation, an area that could benefit from the social network's attention -- controversy over its recent initial public offering aside, Facebook's membership is more than 900 million and growing.

Indeed, with demand for healthy organs for transplantation growing worldwide, Facebook has already become a popular channel for people soliciting kidneys, livers and other potentially lifesaving organs. Earlier this month the social network began offering … Read more

Paralyzed woman completes London Marathon in robot suit

Claire Lomas suffered a T4 spinal injury in a 2007 horse riding accident that left her paralyzed from the chest down. In 2012, she completed the London Marathon. What happened in between was the development of a robotic suit that let her tackle the challenge on her own two legs.

It took 17 days for the 32-year-old resident of Leicestershire, England, to cross the finish line. Her motivation for the marathon was to raise funds for spinal cord injury research. So far, she has raised nearly $200,000.

The robotic ReWalk suit, one of several such devices, is made by Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies. It's a powered exoskeleton full of motion sensors, rechargeable batteries, and a computer system that allows the walker to control the suit.

ReWalk lets users stand, walk, and even climb and descend stairs. Crutches are used for stability (Lomas still has use of her arms). … Read more

How to add your organ donor status to Facebook Timeline

Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to save lives, so starting today you can register as an organ donor directly from your Timeline.

Here's how to add your organ donor status to your Facebook Timeline:

When viewing your Timeline, click on Life Event and then the Health & Wellness listing.

The first option under this section will be Organ Donor. Click on it.

You can then add what state or territory you're an organ donor in, as well as the date you registered. You can also add any notes about being an organ donor to the event. Make sure to … Read more

Samsung thinks up mind-reading brain implant

Samsung has applied for a patent on an implantable medical device that can communicate physiological/pathological information with an "external device."

At last, an app to tell us when we're stressed, drunk, or asleep (states that typically occur in that order, at least for me).

Samsung envisions much more than just a pacemaker you connect to. The application includes a number of possible scenarios with sci-fi implications such as a brain implant to keep track of brainwaves (but certainly not embed subliminal messages about the superior quality of Samsung devices) and fingertip implants for motion detection. … Read more

Pharma firms could soon use 3D printers to create drugs

Sorry, Walter White. There's about to be a new gig in town, and it doesn't involve mixing volatile compounds in sketchy trailer park drug labs.

So say researchers at the University of Glasgow, who are reporting in the journal Nature Chemistry that their novel tech, which they call "reactionware," could turn a commercially-available $2,000 3D printer into a drug lab.

The team says its reactionware uses a robotically-controlled syringe to build objects out of a polymer-based gel that sets at room temperature. So instead of putting chemicals and catalysts in glassware to get a desired … Read more

Will Cameron's deep-sea voyage yield breakthrough drugs?

Blockbuster-moviemaker-turned-aquanaut James Cameron's solo dive in the Pacific to the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep site last month opens up a vast, under-explored region of the world's oceans to researchers. There, scientists hope to discover, retrieve, and study a host of previously unknown organisms and chemical compounds that may someday help solve decades-old medical mysteries.

"What better place to look for adaptations and unusual compounds that have unusual characteristics than in the most extreme environments we can go to on this planet," says Richard Lutz, a professor of marine ecology and biology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents … Read more

Better health care via texting in the developing world (video)

Health care can be difficult to access for rural residents in the developing world. San Francisco startup Medic Mobile is working to change that, by providing communications tools to doctors, patients, and community health workers.

SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das speaks with Josh Nesbit, the company's CEO, to find out more about how simple text messaging is being used to provide better health care.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Doctors use simple texts to deliver better health care in developing world."